Scarf week 2012:Yarn Scarfs with a twist

I am really getting into the scarfs this winter, sadly there is NO snow which makes me very very sad. Maybe my little family should move up to Alaska, because then I would have a chance to actually wear and use my fun scarfs. I even tried wearing the fun purple one (from this post) today and it was still too warm! I was getting too hot and had to take it off :(

I found the basic ideas for these scarfs on pinterest, which led me to the Martha Stewart website.  I loved that they use YARN but NO crocheting or knitting because quite honestly, I am crappy at both those mediums. I do love counted crosstitching which is time consuming and you have to count, but with crocheting I can never keep count, keep my stitches even and I have never cared enough to learn it well :) I have family and friends who LOVE it and I can appreciate their hard work and warm blankets, but for me I will find other ways to use the yarn!

Okay, first, I am going to teach you how to make the thick, soft purple scarf. Go to your local craft store and buy some fat and soft yarn. (50yds). I bought only 25 yds the first time and had to go back to my Hobby Lobby and buy a second skein. This scarf is my most expensive one because each skein was $6.99, so it was $14. Now if you bought yours on sale you could greatly reduce the cost. Unfortunately for me, I went on an impulse buying day.  Maybe that makes me lucky though, because I got some SWEET yarn!! Okay, okay, I will get on track now.... 50 yds of yarn.

Cut the yarn into 140-inch pieces. You will need 12 cut pieces. Yes, you really use it all and it isn't too long (like my black one was).  Look at the picture under this and see how I grouped them into 3 strands for each one?  I used painters tape and secured it to my cutting mat.  I choose to use my mat so I could make sure my SQUARE KNOTS were even. Yes, this whole things is with square knots that is all. I also measured the difference between mine. I taped them inside 1 inch and spaced them with an inch in between. . DO NOT START AT AN END!!!!! start in the MIDDLE!! I know that may sound weird but it means you have less yarn to pull through each time you tie a knot and it will make your process much much quicker and less frustrating.

I started from the outside and tied the square knot. Right over left, left over right. If you have a square knot correct it wont slip all around. Now go down, tying alternating between 2 on the outside and the inner 2 tied together. The inside gets used quicker than the outer 2 so when you are done just trim the ends to your liking. I liked the jagged not really matching ends.

Here I am taking my own pics and trying to show off the scarf. I edited it to whitewash me out so you could focus on just the scarf! And this helped to see the ties better

Okay after my husband heard what I was making he said, "I know how to do a weaving chain. What if we could do that and tie it the same way and use the basic yarn (cheaper) and still have a fun scarf." So of course I said yes!! I wanted to see what my husband meant by a weaving chain.

Here is the weaving chain scarf:

After going to the store again, my man (Scott) grabs the yarn and with a little instruction from my mom on how to get it pulled out of the skein, He dove right in and started weaving. 

Quote from Scott, "To start, you use your left hand, and have the yarn wrap around your middle finger. The tail should be about 6 inches, and it should be on the side your thumb is on. Then, wrap 1 loop around your three fingers, starting on the index finger side, and ending around your ring finger. You will only have one loop to pull, from your middle finger. When you do another wrap from index to ring finger, and then you will have 3 loops to use until you are done."

Then he would wrap and pull the bottom up and over the fingers and then wrap the yarn again.  Does that make any sense? Huh you say??  Well I said the same thing as he explained it to me. So I took a video of him doing a couple of stitches.

I hope this helps you understand the weaving if not leave a comment and I will explain it better (I hope)

Weaving Chain Stitch Video #1

For now it is on my photobucket until I can either do youtube or get my husband to fix it for me!! 

One nice thing about my husband making my chains, besides the obvious of him doing the work and not me, he has these big MAN fingers so the stitches were really big (like using a big hook!) and each wrap stitch is 1 inch for him.  The chains were really quick for him to whip out

because these chains were fat and airy. We decided that we would try it with just 4 chains at 140 inches long just like the purple one, and that should be enough. (as I was tying the blue one I realized doing this with 5 or 6 wide might be really nice as these are thinner than the purple)  All 4 chains ready to tie into a scarf. When you complete the chains you need to go back and secure the ends. As Scott would say "just tie a fishing hook knot!" WHAT?!  Ya, I said the same thing so here is a second video so you can see how he ends it 

Fishing Hook Knot Video

 Tape them down again!

And off I go with my tying! 

Your inside strands are going to run out quicker than your outside so you can make your inners 5-10 inches longer than the outer 2, or as you are tying them you can kind of pull a fast one on the yarn and get them to switch sides (kind of tricky). 

Here are the 2 piled together so you can see the thickness difference. 

 Enjoy! Good luck getting your husbands to use their man fingers to weave you a couple of chains too! 

I’m Linking up to these Awesome Blogs!

Weekend Wrap-Up Party {TaterTots & Jello}

Strut Your Stuff Saturday {Six Sister’ Stuff}